Euro: Austria's Arnautovic gets one-match ban for goal celebration

Austria will be without forward Marko Arnautovic for Thursday's Euro 2020 Group C match against the Netherlands after he was handed a one-match ban by UEFA.

An investigation was opened by UEFA after Arnautovic's angry goal celebration in Austria's opening win over North Macedonia after coming on as a substitute on Sunday.

Arnautovic, who has Serbian background, apologised on Monday for his reaction towards North Macedonia fans but denied he had used racist language towards them.

North Macedonia's soccer governing body (FFM) said Arnautovic's remarks were aimed at their player Gjanni Alioski, who has Albanian roots.

The Albanian minority forms about a quarter of North Macedonia's 2.1 million population. Tensions between North Macedonians and ethnic Albanians in the small Balkan country erupted in 2001 when Albanians took up arms and fought with government forces, demanding more rights.

The conflict ended after seven months with a deal that granted more rights to Albanians.

Serbia and ethnic Albanians have also been in conflict in Kosovo, a former Serbian province that declared independence in 2008. Serbia does not recognise the independence of its former province Kosovo, while there is historic tension between Serbia and North Macedonia. Albania, Kosovo and Serbia all border North Macedonia.

The UEFA Appeals Body said on Wednesday it had suspended Arnautovic for one game for 'insulting' another player.